Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a shuffling machine having a card dispensing structure, and more particularly to a shuffling machine having a card dispensing device that can be lifted to avoid damage to playing cards.
Description of Related Arts
As shown in FIGS. 1-4, a conventional shuffling machine 10 has a central accommodating compartment 11, a left accommodating compartment 12, and a right accommodating compartment 13. A card dispensing space 14 is disposed above the central accommodating compartment 11, the left accommodating compartment 12 and the right accommodating compartment 13. Either side of the top end of the central accommodating compartment 11 is provided with a card guiding roller assembly 15. The central accommodating compartment 11 is provided with a central lifting platform 17 that can ascend and descend. A lifting platform 18 is disposed in each of the left accommodating compartment 12 and the right accommodating compartment 13. A translation plate 19 is moveably disposed at a predetermined height above the central accommodating compartment 11, the left accommodating compartment 12, and the right accommodating compartment 13. The translation plate 19 includes a card dispensing piece 20 extending downwardly. A driving mechanism 21 is connected to the translation plate 19 for driving the translation plate 19 to move back and forth in the left and right directions of the card dispensing space 14, so that the card dispensing piece 20 in the card dispensing space 14 can dispense playing cards 1 located in the central accommodating compartment 11 to the left accommodating compartment 12 or the right accommodating compartment 13 as the central lifting platform 17 is gradually lifted, thereby imitating a manual shuffle to achieve a riffle shuffle and an automatic shuffle. However, in the above-mentioned shuffling to machine 10, although the playing cards 1 can be automatically riffled and shuffled, it still has the following disadvantages:
1. When card dispensing piece 20 dispenses the playing cards 1 in the central accommodating compartment 11 to the left accommodating compartment 12 or the right accommodating compartment 13, because the playing cards 1 may be warped or arched after use, the playing cards 1 may be mistakenly riffled by the card dispensing piece 20 due to the warped or arched point. One end of the playing card 1 that is mistakenly riffled abuts against the edge of the card guiding roller assembly 15, and the other end is still forcibly moved by the dispensing piece 20, causing the playing card 1 to be deformed and damaged (as shown in FIG. 2).
2. When the stacked playing cards 1 are dispensed by the card dispensing piece 20, because the playing cards 1 are attached to one another, the riffled playing card 1 may absorb and bring the next playing card 1 toward the card guiding roller assembly 15 of the left accommodating compartment 12 or the right accommodating compartment 13. When the suction force is weakened halfway, the playing card 1 is dropped and stuck between the card dispensing piece 20 and the card guiding roller assembly 15 (as shown in FIG. 3). As a result, the shuffling machine 10 malfunctions to affect the fairness of the game.
When the above situation occurs, the obstacle needs to be removed manually. The shuffling machine 10 has a high failure rate, which affects the fairness, reduces the player's game interest, and causes unnecessary waste of the playing cards 1. Accordingly, the inventor of the present invention has devoted himself based on his many years of practical experiences to solve these problems.